Day 21 Journey to the Center of the Trash - Leg 2 begins
June 30, 2009 Position: 21 29.66N, 159 23.78W (I will be writing the coordinates this way so they can be cut and pasted into Google Earth)
Drew here, I am back in the saddle and heading to the Dateline. Thanks Jamie for blogging for me while I slept. Oh and thanks for the picture of my snoozing too…at least you got Lugs good side. Now everyone know I sleep in the "dog house"! Well at least a house with 4 spoiled dogs that get to sleep on the bed.
Leg 2 begins with some good and bad news. Good news, Honolulu departure went smooth and seas are calm, and I have re-organized my living space with new amenities so it is much more comfortable. The bad news is, I somehow when re-packing left the Nite Rider lights at my house while on Oahu. So I have to rig my lights from the other underwater housing to work with the Bluefin housing. Big time oops! Plus I left a memory card for the new camera stuck in the reader on the computer at home, so I am down to 1 memory card. I am so sorry Richard and the NiteRider guys…but many Mahalos for your support and all the scrambling you did to get me the lights!
Jamie dropped me off at the boat around 2 pm yesterday where I helped in last minute prep before casting off. We pulled out of Honolulu right around 7 pm as the sun was setting leaving the lights of Waikiki drifting off behind us. We ran a quick few "man overboard" drills and I checked all the safety gear to make sure everything was set and we motored into the night…yep…motored, not too much breeze again!
I awoke to see Kauai for the first time…that is correct, I have never seen Kauai. Well now I at least can say I've seen it. Our plan is to head up the island chain, cut across somewhere in the middle of the NW Hawaiian Islands, then continue to the Dateline.
We passed through the channel between the Garden Isle, Kauai and Niihau, known as the "Forbidden Isle". The Hawaiian island chain always amazes me how each island is so different yet the one thing that remains consent is the spirit of Aloha!
The 3 days on Oahu was nice despite leaving my lights. I slept a lot as Jamie mentioned and got some new supplies. Stopped in to see all the guys and gals at Surf n Sea!!!
The Makai Watch was fun, there was a woman there who recognized my voice from my YouTube videos…apparently she has been watching my underwater stuff to help with motion sickness issues. I was so honored that my videos could be therapeutic, I gave her a copy of “A Beautiful Journey Beneath the Sea”. That’s our retail DVD available on our website… www.scubadrewvideo.com and look under "Products".
It was great while on dry land to hear all the buzz about the voyage and talk to the people who have been following the voyage! I also had time to meet new people who will now be checking out the blog....helping to make the Earth, the Ocean a better place…very cool!!!! Mahalo to everyone!!!!
June 29, 2009 5:50 HST Position: The Alguita and Drew 21 Deg 17'29 N 157 Deg 51'21 W
Well I have just dropped Drew off after an impromptu 3 day break. He is rested and ready for the next four weeks back on the high seas to reach their primary goal...the un-sampled Gyre cross the Dateline.
The Manta trawl has been fixed and I left the docks as the crew was folding the now good as new spinnaker. So if Mother Nature will cooperate this time they should reach their sampling area in 8 days. So the blogs should start back to "The Adventures of Sailor ScubaDrew" tomorrow!
Hey for all you like me who "can't find Waldo", while Drew was here he showed me how to look up on Google Earth (a free down loaded program at http://earth.google.com/) and once you have downloaded it, put the position coordinates from that day's blog in the box that says "Fly to" and you will be able to plot their course.
I has been trying it on other programs and 1st they were in Africa, then the North Pole, I knew I was doing something wrong!!!!! I eventually went "old school" and got out my atlas which got me in the right ocean at least!!!!
So safe journey Drew and the Captain and crew of the OVR Alguita. Keep the stories of your quest to make this a better planet coming!!! Aloha, Jamie
June 25-29, 2009 Position: The Alguita 21 Deg 17'29 N 157 Deg 51'21 W Drew 21 Deg 42'00 N 157 Deg 57'06 W The Alguita and crew has arrived safely at Kewalo Basin to refuel and repair the manta trawl and spinnaker! They will be here in Hawaii till Monday the 29th when they will set sail to once again, with Mother Nature cooperating, head up to the Gyre across the Dateline.
By the way, this is Jamie reporting because this has been Drew most of the time since getting off the boat.... He has been taking advantage of a stationary soft bed, wider then 2 feet and his buddy Lug to snuggle with!
He did rally yesterday (Saturday) for a few hours to be part of the Hui Malama O Pupukea Waimea Makai Watch presentation of our new tent (thank-you Reef Redemption!)
He enjoyed catching up all our Makai Watch friends of his adventures so far and he met quite a few new friends while doing the out reach at the tent. Who will all now be following the next leg of his adventure via the blog!
So today (Sunday) is "errand" day...going to drop by Surf & Sea and say "ALOHA", then it will be off to Costco and Wal-mart to pick up all the things Drew wished he had during the last two weeks while at sea!!! Now that he doesn't have to pack and then "fly", he can take all those comfort food items he has been missing!!!! Like a bunch of bags of Hawaii's famous flavored coffee!!!
And not that he hasn't enjoyed the boat's cuisine but some of it has been a bit too exotic for his "new England" taste buds!!! Like red beans and tofu surprise!!! Plus how many meals do you want to hear...."What's for dinner?" "More of the 8 mahi mahi we've caught!
Which Drew has been lucky enough to be one of the "reeler inner's" of, sort of that "Old Man of Sea" thrill (with out the whole shark thing)....till that's all you're eating!!!! So we are off to stock up on Drew's "must have" stuff. Plus I'm sending along some home made chocolate chip cookies!
One of the cool stories he didn't have time to blog about just before they arrived Friday but sent me a photo of, was a hitch- hiking Red Footed Booby!!!! He came on board about 200 miles outside of Honolulu and wouldn't leave!!! They tried shooing him away and he kept coming back and perching on the bow. As you can see by the photo Drew had a "up close and personal" moment with the booby, he even let Drew pet it!!!! It was all very "owww nature, part of the ocean, sooo cool" till Nicole was hulu hooping close by and the booby did a projectile bird poop, just missing her in mid "hulu"!!!! That would have been a little too much "nature"!!!!! The booby finally left his "ride" a few miles outside the harbor.
So that's it for now, well till Drew is back on board the boat and he can start blogging again. I have enjoyed his brief stay here at home. Only wish he could have stayed awake!!! If this is what it is like after 2 weeks.....I guess he will be "comatose" for at least a week when he returns on July 29th!!!! Aloha & Mahalo to all, Jamie
June 24th 2009 6:47 pm Position: 22 Deg 26.68 N 153 Deg 45.82 W 2300 miles traveled, under 200 miles to Honolulu.
Today started with our second encounter with a passing ship, only this time is was 3 am and I was on watch. The “Horizon Reliance”, a 237 meter cargo ship in route to Hawaii, passed within 6 miles of us crossing our stern. It goes to show the level of things that rank as notable when you are 14 days at sea…”hey look, a boat, yipee!”
Later as we were discussing the current conditions, the captain decided to swap sails and go for the spinnaker again…but he also decided that we needed to learn how to set the sea anchor….sea anchor???? Does that mean what I think??? I get to go DIVING!!!!
The seas had diminished to a 6 -8 ft swell and the winds were down to 20 knots so I finally got a chance to check out the full underwater video system with lights and everything on a scuba dive.
I gave Capt Moore the honors of the first chance to check out the Camera Mask provided by Liquid Image Inc.
Joel and I suited up for our first blue water dive of the voyage while Jeff, Charlie, Nicole and Christiana opted for a snorkel. 200 miles from the nearest land is a pretty cool place to be able to dive. I think we had about 12,000 ft of deep water below us so we still had to make sure we didn’t drop anything…yes my new housing was tethered to me.
The first thing I noticed was there was a lot of debris hovering at various depths all around me… This is very concerning, we aren’t even in a high concentration zone and I am seeing the same amount of plastic underwater as I saw in 2002 when I was in the middle of the Gyre. I never had to look for more than a few seconds before spotting another piece of debris floating past me....Nylon string, plastic bottles, and parts of plastic bags. It was disgusting!!! I am afraid at what I will find when we finally make it to the collection zone area across the Dateline.
I did get some good footage of a few pelagic jelly species. Even with the sea anchor however, the boat was moving pretty good in the wind so we had to keep our wits about us and not "wander" too far away. We always kept the sea anchor in our visual range. I was just so happy to get into the water after so many days being "on it"!!!!
After our romp in the ocean, we set the spinnaker and got back on course for Honolulu, hoping to arrive sometime Friday. I spent a little time pulling in yet another Mahi Mahi…that makes 8 we have caught. No plastic in this one. After sitting down to a meal of, you guessed it, Mahai Mahi, we had a brief bit of craziness when the spinnaker blew out the tack and had to come down. It was made for a few tense moments!!! So now we are heading wing and wing with the staysail and Genoa. Good thing we are going to Hawaii…we can get all this fixed. Ahh the life aboard a sailing vessel!!!
June 23rd 2009 Position: 23 Deg 07.34 min. North 149 Deg 55.77.min West Approx 450 Northeast of Hawaii.
Currently we are sailing wing and wing downwind on a direct heading to Oahu, Hawaii. Yesterday was a good day despite all that happened with the Manta Trawl (BBMT) because we achieved one of our objectives of this voyage.....
One aspect of the danger of plastic in the ocean is the ingestion of plastic by fish that we humans are consuming. I don’t think I need to explain the consequences and negative impact of "plastic" fish! That has been one of the objectives of this voyage is to prove plastics are moving their way up the food chain. So while we sail from test area to test area, we set fishing lines out to see if we can catch some additional food for the crew, talk about fresh fish! Also to get "sample" fish to dissect to see if this theory can be documented.
Well yesterday we hooked two Mahi Mahi, also known as dolphin-fish or dorado, they are surface-dwelling ray-finned fish found in off-shore temperate, tropical and subtropical waters worldwide. While Christiana (the on-board scientist) was doing her dissection and collection of tissue samples for toxin testing, she also inspects the digestive tract of both fish. In the smaller 5 lb fish she found some suspect material that was later confirmed by microscopic inspection to be a piece of plastic. Now it cannot be determined whether the plastic was ingested directly by the fish or through the consumption of a smaller fish it ate. Most likely the Mahi Mahi ate the plastic it's self, thinking it was food because there were no obvious remains of a previous meal, like a smaller fish. The entire dissection and discovery of the plastic was documented on video so we are pretty pleased with ourselves today!!!!
Now I’m going to take a moment to respond to some Face Book comments from all my FB friends following my blog. Your comments are being relayed to me from by my awesome "land support" team of 1 (and she happens to be my beautiful wife too!). So please keep posting your comments and questions. It's great to know you are all out there!!! So here's an answer to one of the questions posted by a few people....
It was regarding the growth on the plastic debris and questioning if it wouldn’t be a better idea to allow the "colonies" to remain as an ecosystem. This is a good topic, because initially one would think if it attracts growth then it’s a good thing, but 3 main factors must be taken into account.
1. Plastic has been proven to contain and further absorb toxins, so the dangers of allowing organisms to attach and grow on potentially toxic material would not be beneficial.
2. Another issue is, natural floating ecosystems have a finite lifespan due to decomposition and degradation by the elements, sun, water, wave action etc. Plastic objects last much longer, causing the potential for marine life and organisms to travel well outside their normal range of existence/territory, therefore altering the natural process of species expansion. Last voyage we found a fish living inside a floating plastic square, crate like bucket. That fish when we found, it was 2,500 miles from its natural habitat. This could not have happened if the bucket been made of some other natural biodegradable material that would have deteriorated long before it traveled 2,500 miles.
3. And the most important, eventually all plastic in the ocean will break up to microscopic levels to either be ingested by marine life or become a molecular toxin to the water and eventually to us. So if its plastic…it’s got to get picked up and taken out before becoming part of the ecosystem and not in a good way. The main thing we should be working on is eliminating the unnecessary plastic from our society, like the "one use" trend for items and containers that is happening now. Plus we MUST properly disposing of the rest of the plastic so it stays out of our oceans.
Hope that helps clear up why we are removing the "ecosystems" that have plastic as it's "home base". So please think before you opt for the plastic when asked "Paper or plastic"! Better still, bring your own reusable bags!!! It's good to be green!!!!
Okay back to voyage.....
Winds have calmed to a pleasant 20 knots and the sun is out so we continue to cruise on to Hawaii, occasionally being visited by the random Black Footed Albatross.... They are very difficult to film from a moving boat deck…but I am getting better with each fly-by. Just a few more days and I'll be back on my wonderful slice of Paradise, Oahu, for a couple of days while we repair the BBMT (Beloved Busted Manta Trawl)...I'm all most there "land support team of one" Jamie!!!!
Monday June 22, 2009 Position: 24 deg 00.35 N 147 deg 14.93 W Heading 203 Deg Approx 2000 miles traveled. Well we arrived at the start of our trawling area yesterday morning. After dousing the spinnaker the day before because we were actually going too fast, our plan was to trawl consistently across the area of high plankton concentration to see if there is a correlation with plastic fragment concentration as well. Well the seas were making this task as difficult as could be. With winds steady at 25 knots and gusting to 35 knots and seas reaching 10-12 ft, we needed to be on our toes in order to sample in a Force 6 sea state (Beaufort scale of wind force).
We knew this was going to be a long 24 to 48 hrs, so we all geared up and began sampling. We established a pretty good groove with everyone given assigned positions and jobs we were getting rather good at quick turnaround times of pulling the trawls, removing the catch nets and replacing and redeploying the trawls.
The Manta trawl is designed to skim the surface, while being pulled by a control line that attaches to the base of the opening.
The seas were still a force 6 when nightfall came, but our tireless crew pushed on…joking about the similarity to the Alaskan Crab fisherman waiting for the next string, only with warmer water and a smaller boat. Around midnight, we were deploying the Manta trawl for the 6th time this day, and all was going normal when Boat Monkey (Jeff) saw the top tow line get taught and the Manta plunge below the surface.
However there is a tow line used to bring the trawl in and out that is fixed to the top of the structure. That tow line must remain slack or the manta will nose dive under the water. With a tangle knot getting caught on one of the deck blocks, the tow line went taught, and the Manta plunged below the surface. The large swells proved to be too much for the aluminum framed trawl, within seconds the top bracket that secured the tow line snapped putting all the forces upon the control line and the J bar. Quickly we scrambled to regain control of the trawl before losing it to the ocean depths. Jeff and Joel struggled to get the control line around a winch and start pulling the trawl on board.
It was very close; we almost lost the whole trawl overboard. The J bar, that incidentally holds the entire radar navigation system, bent aftward about 2-3 inches, snapping the life lines like twigs and almost broke free of the deck. At that point I ditched the camera and somehow Jeff, Joel and I got the Manta back on board but the results were disappointing…the trawl was badly beaten up, with the float wings bent on both sides and the top tow connector sheared off, it was obvious that our beloved Manta Trawl was out of commission for a while. So as not to waste the time in location, we took the NSE (Education Sample Net) and the Bongo Trawl and deployed them in a manner so they are now our "samplers" of the ocean's surface in place of our BBTW (Beloved Busted Manta Trawl).
We plan to do a few more trawls near the end of the bloom transect then throw up some canvas and ride the trades to Honolulu for repairs. Fortunately as the Captain said, “Nobody got hurt and all the gear can be fixed”! The most amazing aspect of this whole evening was Capt. Charlie never went ballistic and for anyone who has spent time with him at sea can tell you….. That was unusual. Help keep us all calm to get the "think fast" job done!!!!
Day 11 06-20-09 Position: 24 Deg 25.80 N 145 Deg 07.00 W Heading 268 Deg.
Well today I have learned more than I expected…and it doesn’t involve anything on or in the water. It’s about the loved ones we leave behind on these endeavors. Is it right that we expect them just to pick up whatever we drop to go sail half way around the world? This whole voyage has been very hard on my wife Jamie. She has taken on the responsibilities of the entire house upkeep, care for all the animals (4 dogs, 3 cats and Poophead the chicken), my second job with the Makai Watch conservation group, posting my blog entries for me and all the other day to day snafus that can and do happen. I cannot say enough about how much I love and appreciate what she has done and is doing for me during this journey. I have been selfish during this and need to acknowledge Jamie and all she does for me. Honey I am sorry! Also I want to thank Kristen and Charlie who have taken my dive shifts at Surf & Sea, hope it hasn't been too crazy!!! I totally appreciate you guys covering me for so long!!! I owe you lots of days off!!!! Many Mahalo's to you two!!! Also a shout out to Joe Green too, thanks for holding my job and supporting me on this journey!!! You are the most ONO boss!!! I miss you all!!!!
We are almost upon our target location for sampling. We had been running hard with just the spinnaker for 3 days, and made good enough time that the Capt did a calculation and figured that we would arrive to the sample area too early. We didn’t want to arrive in the middle of the night, and also the wind was picking up to gusts over 30 kts…so I took the helm while the Capt instructed the crew with the sail change. All went well without issues, chute went down, main and staysail went up. Soon we were back on course with a slightly slower boat speed so we should arrive at the sample spot right around sun up.
We did have a bit of craziness on deck today, when we accidentally snagged an Albatross with one of our trolling fishing lures. I was filming the graceful bird swooping over the waves when it landed right in the path of one of our fishing rigs. Well before we knew it the poor bird was snagged and being dragged across the ocean, unable to regain control. With some quick thinking, we reeled the bird up to the boat where Joel took control of this very awkward animal. He has spent time in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands so he has had experience in handling Albatross. The good news is the line was the only thing snagging the wing....not the hook. So with a freed wing and some feathers in need of a little primping, we let her go back onto the big blue and watched as she stretched her wings out and prepare for flight status back home…only 1000 miles away. Amazing birds they are, flying thousands of miles to feed in the open ocean. Conditions are still mild to rough, even for this stable platform. We surfed down the face of some good size swells today hitting max speeds of 14 knots. That’s quick for this boat. Well tomorrow (or should I say today...its 3 am of day 12) should bring some busy action on deck as we sample this area of plankton blooming, and do a little ground "truthing" of this plankton/plastic theory….and I am still hoping to dive..Despite the rough seas.
And a very Happy Father's Day to my all my "Dad's"...Bud, Harry and Fred!!!! I am thinking of all of you and missing you tons!!! Have a perfect day!
Day 10 2:31 pm HST 24 Deg 16.08 N 139 Deg 56.28 W 1552 miles travelled.
We are close to approaching our target location for sampling and whatever else we can do in these “Victory at Sea” conditions. Well its not that bad, but we are riding some big swells that are scooting this big cat to 13 knots on occasion. I will do whatever it takes to get in the water with my gear…swells or no swells! I must get under the surface out here. It’s the whole reason why I am here.
After we sample there for a a day or 2, we will head to Honolulu, arriving potentially as soon as Thursday the 25th. There we will stay for a day or two to resupply, then head up to the NW Hawiian islands area to across the dateline. This may extend the length of the first leg by a week, not sure at this time.
Yeah!!!!!! Capt Charlie just told me that we will deploy the sea anchor and dive in the middle of the test area! I am a bit happier now, but I wont count my chickens before they hatch. But it looks like I will get my chance at some true blue water and blackwater diving!!! I’m getting goose bumps already…or chicken skin as they say in Hawaii.
Once we leave Honolulu, we should take about eight days to get out to the dateline. Then we have a few days to sample and study, then return to Honolulu. Until then its smooth sailing with a stiff breeze and some pretty fun swells to surf down in this big old boat!
Day 9 06-18-09 Position: 24 Deg 07.09 138 Deg 09.53 Heading 262 deg Miles covered = 1455 Steady sailing we go. With 20 kts of steady wind, we are making good time (8-10 kts) with just the spinnaker flying. Yesterday we had our first sighting of other humans on this massive ocean…although it was just an Asian trawler of some sorts. They crossed our path about 3 miles ahead. It was the biggest, most exciting thing on this boat since sliced bread. We were going a bit nuts with speculating/making up stories of what they were doing and where they were going! For a while we were calling them the "Asian Pirates", just waiting for sundown so they could board our little boat full of gyreologists (we made up that name for us, Gyreologist “Ji-er-ologist” someone who studies gyres)...... But the trawler just sped off over the horizon with no swashbuckling or buccaneering to be had, probably for the better anyway!!!! I know I shouldn’t joke about piracy, but hey, we have been out here for 9 days so we need to entertain ourselves.
We are seeing more flying fish, but they continue to elude my camera's lens. Tough little buggers to film…very fast and you never know where they will pop up. Sometimes they fly for a good 10 seconds and travel a good distance over the water, occasionally dipping their tails in the water to get more speed.
The AMRF ship to shore blog has been fun! Answering questions from school kids can generate interesting conversation. Now if I could just get the music turned off, and cameras turned on in time to get the sound bytes, then I might be getting somewhere.
There is so much stuff to remember on this boat, from the water maker to the voltage generators. And let’s not forget the bilge pumping that is done with a mini wet/dry shop vac. I need to do that right after I finish this blog, YUCK!!!! It would be nice if the auto bilge pumps were fixed…that is a nasty job in a cramped space But it’s better than dumping the used toilet paper bucket, yes you heard correct, used toilet paper bucket!!! The marine head (bathroom) instructions are very clear….only things that go in the toilet must have been eaten first. I'm sure you are all thinking...TMI!!!!!
All is pretty much going normal aboard the Alguita tonight….. there is something very magical about being out here on this wide open ocean. There is a spirit or power out here that cannot be described with word. I don’t even think I can capture it with video…its just something you feel! It makes you feel really small…..
Day 9 June 18th 2009 24 Deg 01.77 N 135 Deg 20.84 W Heading 252 Deg W Miles from LA 1303 1255 miles to Oahu. What does day 9 bring?? New plans again! We are still going to the plankton bloom location, but it looks like the 2nd leg may be cancelled and the 1st leg extended by 2 weeks to allow for reaching the Dateline…Charlie REALLY wants to hit the Dateline, and we don’t want to be too far south, during hurricane season….so we may arrive in Kewalo Basin Oahu for a couple days, then go to the Dateline. Not sure how my "other half" is going to feel about that. We shall see. It really depends on whether or not I get the footage I need in the plankton bloom area. If I get enough, then I don’t need to do the Dateline run. I am really itching to get in the water and do some real video work. That is my objective on this voyage to get amazing underwater video….tough to do when the boat doesn’t stop so I can get into the water to film! Still holding steady winds, however last night Christiana learned what it is like to run the whole shift staring up at a sail. It was a tough watch with the wind fluctuating around..tough to keep the kite maxed out. I opened my card from Jamie today…very sweet..and thoughtful…she knows me too well! The day I left Hawaii she had given me a stack of pre-written/dated cards to open during the voyage. A little piece of love from home each time I open one! Today is also my Mom’s birthday…I am going to take a picture of me on the bow and send it to her. “Happy Birthday from the middle of nowhere Mom” We had 2 squid on deck yesterday…I forgot to mention that…I think Jeff cooked them up and ate them…that’s pretty much what he does with everything. Quite the talented "in the galley" lad! We are officially half way between Hawaii and the Mainland Woohooo!
..Day 7 Continued Surf Dog (the dog with a blog) came out to help us on this journey; he is here to tell everyone to read about the plastic problem. This picture shows Surf Dog helping the Alguita crew scientists Christiana and Nicole, learn the tricks of reading the charts and gauges…he is a very smart dog. Check out his website www.surfdogsunsetbeach.com This reminds me to say MAHALO to all the people who are making this happen for me. First and foremost I want to thank my wife Jamie; she is the one making this blog happen. She is also catching my spelling and grammar errors…what can I say, never was my strong suit. Joe Green at Surf and Sea, Mr. & Mrs. Fred Stalder, Chef Duff and the gang at Charm City Cakes, Richard Cunningham and everyone who is still spreading the word and keeping this topic going…THANK YOU…Shaka Doug, Mark Fraser…I could go on and on. So we are flyin the Spinnaker now, have been for most of the day. Nice looking kite I must say. This makes pulling watch a bit more mind consuming. Gives you something to do during the watches besides look at the ocean and radar! I just turned down the background music with the hopes of getting some better conversation audio….pretty tough to do on this boat. Now that I have done that, no one is talking. Isn't that always the way! Jeff and Charlie are discussing whether or not to leave the “Chute” up…that’s the spinnaker. I think we are going to double up on watch duty and keep the kite flying!!! Yippee! Trades have picked up nicely for us now…just wish that was 6 days ago. At least now we are heading 255 Deg, right toward our target area. Let’s see what tomorrow brings.
So this is what Drew gets to wake up to OR go to bed to...depending on his watch shift. Almost wish I was there...except for the whole 6 weeks on a 50ft boat with no shower in the middle of the ocean thing! I think lawyers would be involved after we docked!!!! Just kidding, Jamie (sort of)
Wonder if this was taken during his bout with seasickness or he's just having a "Oh isn't this beautiful" moment....or "What the hell did I get myself into"
Sooooo I am surviving without Drew. Miss him most on trash night and dog washing day!!!!! Have enjoyed having the remote all to myself!!! But miss our discussions (sometimes heated) about the "news/politics" of the day. Don't know if they are getting any world up-dates on the boat so I have been trying to keep him informed. Like when the Lakers won the championship and the sham election in Iran. A few days ago I asked him to send more pictures with him in them. I know it's hard when you are always the one behind the camera, but here are a few that he sent along with the e-mail below. As you will notice in the hula hoop shot background when one gets "wind" it is no longer a "smooth sail"!!!! I will be adding my own "two-cents" from time to time, specially if I feel I need to complain!!! Since I can't give him the "look" that I'm not happy...I'll just vent to the world!!!! So far so good, no need for the "look"!!! All you married guys know the "look"!!! Enjoy the Drew photos and his e-mail to me.....
Aloha my love! No blog update this morning, or pictures. It's not as easy as you may think to just send pictures. Well the sending part is the easy part, it's the getting the still shot off the video from the new camera that's a pain. It's really rough tonight and it's tough to stay standing to do the work!!!! For some reason, I can't just pull a still off the new camera like the old one and put them on the memory stick...or I have yet to figure it out. I will try, but I don't often have free access to the computer during the day. I will try and get some good shots but no guarantees. Love ya, but it's really hard to type right now...using my headlamp and rolling side to side..Getting a little dizzy. Drew P.S. Here is funny one for ya from yesterday. :)
Day 7 6-16-09 1:30 HST 23 Deg 27.239 N 130 Deg 29.375 W Heading 258 Deg Speed 8 kts on a broad reach! Miles covered = 1035 miles! WIND WIND WIND!!!! Yea!!! A bit late to make up for the first 5 days, but we are sailing now none the less and heading west. We were going to go southwest of Hawaii, but we received new coordinates from Dave Foley (NOAA Coast watch), where some current concentration is believed to be located based on his weather information. We did take the opportunity to do some Man (or woman) overboard drills and run a Manta Trawl…and go for a dip. We set the boat in a heave to position where she stays put with sails up, and went for a swim. I followed Charlie with my camera while he scooped up plastic particles…we found a bunch…some strapping tape, a piece of a plastic bag, and several other assorted plastic particles. More practice with the camera which is always good. It feels really strange to swim away from your boat while 1000 miles from land and the sails are up…I found myself always checking my position relative to the boat…there is always some drift. Got some more good footage of deploying and retrieving the Manta trawl and the sampling process. The picture above is of some more floats/buoys we have found along the way that Captain Charlie is holding (sans sarong,put his clothes back on for the pic). The buoys must not have been "lost" for too long since they are pretty clean of sea critters like the other ball float had. Because they are numbered we may be able to trace them...can we make a citizen arrest for plastic dumping? The other bad thing about floats/buoys like this is the lines/ropes attached. They can become entangled around any of the ocean animals or sea birds resulting in a slow horrible death! It great to finally have WIND but with the increase of wind, we need to pay attention to hatch covers, as Nicole just discovered as she was rudely interrupted from reading by a pile of water in her face…can anyone say "Newbie sailor's initiation"!! That’s it for today..We shall see what the evening brings.
Thought you all would like to see what one of the bigger pieces of "trash" looks like. This is a float from, most likely, one of the big factory type fishing boat's nets. The larger pieces of trash become a microcosm of sea life. What you see on the plastic float is a type of gooseneck barnacle that is just starting it's colony. Last time trip (2002) we found these floats where the colonies were hanging almost 6 feet below the float. As these colonies grow they attract other "open water" creatures like the pelagic crabs and small fish. We found this float a few days ago at.... Position: 25 deg 43.074 North 127 deg 50.998 West 621 from Los Angeles
Day 6 06-15-09 3:21 pm HST 24 Deg 18.9 N 128 Deg 18.8W 892 miles logged Current heading 197 Deg. Saw 2 whale spouts off the starboard bow approx ¼ mile, but swimming away from us. The only recognizable characteristics or features were a small hump for a dorsal fin, and a very low spout, almost flat to forward direction. Monkey (Jeff) caught a fish!!!!!! He snagged a small Mahi Mahi, female. Christiana did her "Arlo Guthrie" fish thing by inspecting, injecting, selecting, and neglecting every part of that fish....she left no part untouched! Pretty funny that she is the weak stomach gag reflex girl. You mention anything remotely gross to her and her hand goes up to her mouth. No plastic found in this one but we should get more chances. All the while, Jeff “Boat Monkey” is anxiously waiting in the wings for his chance to inflict his culinary tornado “knives of fury” on it’s ass. Eagerly sharpening his weapons of fish destruction…with an almost scary, look in his eye! It looks official now that we have changed objectives from our original mission. We are heading south to the region south west of Hawaii that is believed to be an area of high concentration. The wind and usage of fuel has forced our hand. We are going to run 1 more trawl to see if we can get Joel's camera to work filming the mouth opening of the manta trawl. The manta trawl is a surface skimming net that is designed to sample from surface to 12 inches below the surface. It works by primarily sampling surface organisms by catching them in a very fine mesh net at the tail end of the trawl net. Day 6 06-15-09 6:00 pm HST ….3 days until my Moms birthday! We completed the trawl with Joel’s remote, tethered waterproof camera and 1st run was deemed a success. So we did gather 2 good Manta Trawl samples from this new previously un-sampled area of the pacific. The visible plastic count was much lower than anything I had seen, but we are outside the Gyre, so it was expected. But even to find plastic floating in an area OUTSIDE the Gyre is disturbing. What does that mean for the center of the gyre? We are so far outside the center of any of the Gyre regions, its sad that the 2 times we drag a net, we find plastic. I wonder what tomorrow will bring for us. Btw…Capt’s been wearing what looks like a traditional Fijian wrap all day….makes the windy deck and interesting place to be depending on your perspective….and also makes it difficult to get footage that can be used for all demographics. And if I hadn’t said this yet…people eat the weirdest stuff on this boat!
Day 6 06-15-09 6:00am HST. Position: 25 Deg 13.36 N 128 Deg 04.600 W 637 Miles travelled OK this is really starting to chip away at the old morale. 5 days underway and I have nothing of a story developing. And to top it off, it looks like we are not going to the area first planned, due to this lousy wind situation. We are looking at stopping in Hawaii, but where and for how long….I havent a clue. I could have stayed in Hawaii and meet the boat there. We will be sampling in this area today, just because Charlie has never sampled here before and as any good scientist knows that any data point is a good data point. There appear to be more debris sightings in the last hour or so…we may be in a little convergence pocket. I am trying to find the right time to start questioning the crew to get some personal insight, but with music and boat motors it is VERY difficult. As in most cases unless it’s a big production…the guy with the camera is always in the way. I am really nervous about what story I can make of this.
09:55 am Hawaii time and we just finished our first Manta trawl of surface sampling. Joel also tried to rig his remote camera to the trawl to see it from the water's perspective…pretty cool idea, I think we will figure it out. I haven’t felt any sense that people are getting edgy, but that tends to happen after a series of trawls..especially night trawls. Also, I got to talk to Jamie via Sat phone for the first time in a week…It was really good to here her voice again! She is hanging in there with power outages, puppies and crazy chickens, saving a baby chick the mom attacked her this morning! Oh and get this…I tried to Hula Hoop…. I failed miserably.
Day 5 6-14-09 6:59 am HST Location: 27 Deg 38.21 N 126 Deg 56.05 W Heading 188 Deg SSW Miles logged = 678.
2-4 shift went well, although the wind continues to push us south…we are anxiously waiting for the NE trades to kick in. Joel has been creating nicknames for everyone on board…its kinda funny. Jeff = Boat Monkey (thin Slice), because he is all over the place on the boat and never goes anywhere slowly…like a monkey loose in a department store, swinging from the rafters..except this monkey can cook really well. And I swear he must weigh 85 lbs wet. Nicole = Nickle bag……don’t ask about that one, I didn’t make it up. I (Drew) am now called “Scuba Gooding Jr” I guess I can live with that…its better than ScubaDrool…ERIC!!! Joel is self proclaimed El Conqui Christiana = well he’s working on that…Greek Freak was my idea..we’ll see. Cristos cristos. Captain Charlie is Captain Chaos…fitting. Since I heard the first yelling match he had with Jeff yesterday! I love it! Sometime last night, El Conqui, Capt Chaos and Boat Monkey were jammin to James Brown..wish I had my camera going for that one! I have been getting good sleep although it follows no pattern. I am usually crashing around 8 pm so I have some ZZZ’s before the 2-4 watch, and then I go back to sleep for a few hours until there is too much noise or light to sleep effectively. Christiana is still itchin for fish..I guess its in the blood being Greek and all. The girls have been learning the ropes about sailing or should I say the "lines" about sailing. We’ve been teaching sail shape and various controls to make the sail shape the way you want for the conditions you have. Charlie is gearing up for the first sat phone interview/power point presentation with a school on the big island. Pretty cool, I’ll explain later. Well its sunny and breezy, slight whitecaps, blue blue blue water! Nickle bag is making strawberry smoothies for all. Trying to find what is bad in the fridge…start by using all the strawberries. Well I need to get ready to tape the interview….until later!
Day 5 06-14-09 9:00 am HST 27 Deg 29.340 N 127 Deg 00.191 W Heading 204 Deg. Charlie is doing his satellite phone/power point presentation with the school in Hawaii. All is quiet so I am getting a good sound recording while I record the whole thing. I need to remember the issue of Hagfish traps. If this works then I will have got all the science dialogue that Charlie has to offer in one fare swoop. Sounds and looks like everything is going well with the follow up questions. The girls were hula hooping for some time…rather funny! I taped a bunch of it. It has been nice to have regular emails on this trip. Unlike 2002, I can email back to Jamie every night…I like that. I know she feels better this time because of that. Boy I really hope the sound comes out good, although people keep walking in and out during the taping. Well now the taping is done and before I can blink, Boat Monkey is in the galley being creative with food again. Nothin fancy, good old fashion omelet’s. Starboard engine is back on as we motor along again…
Day 4: 06-13-09 7:22 am HST Position: 29 Deg 09.400 N 124 Deg 48.4 W Heading 258 Deg WSW.
Still quiet, Low wind isn’t helping, we keep switching from Genoa to Staysail and back…main up, main down. Always the same, trying to maximize the situation so we can save fuel. We do have a favorable tail current that is helping a bit. Tons of valella valellea, floating by with their little sails looking like they are racing to LA. They are an open ocean pelagic invertebrate that floats on the surface and rides the winds. There must be thousands all around the boat. We are now on to 2hr individual shifts instead of having dual 4 hour shifts. So I am the 2-4 shift. We are planning to do a fuel transfer from the big bladders to the on board tanks, this is always potentially messy and stinks unless you get off on the smell of diesel fuel. We have covered almost 500 miles so far.
Later on Day 4 11:30 am Hst. Position: 29 deg 13.900 North 125 deg 08.884 West 523 from Los Angeles
Calm all day, sails down and motoring through this high pressure system. We did stop to swim after the fuel exchange, because as is always the case, we had a slight spill. No matter how careful you are, a spill always seems to happen. Water was beautiful and clear, and chilly! About 69 Deg but I didn’t care, so I threw on a rash guard and jumped in to test the new light and motion housing. Works very good, but I wish I had more time to prep with it. Housing is slightly negative buoyant, so with lights, I will really make sure it doesn’t get out of my control….drop anything out here and it will not be seen by human eyes again. We collected a velella velella (small surface jelly), one of many million sailing past out boat for the better part of all day. I got some good initial shots of the crew, and maybe of some small jellies, but I haven’t viewed all the footage yet. I do like the set up, with the back monitor….makes it easier to see, which is good with my failing eyesight. Charlie collected some small plastic bits with his net; Joel was in and out quick…probably because he has zero fat on him. Jeff and the girls had fun taking pics….I did a few bubble rings…I felt out of practice. It has been almost a month with no scuba for me which is unheard of, but the moment I slipped into the water I felt in my element again…that is where I belong. The water was SO Blue and free diving was fun with no bottom in sight. Since it was only a short swim, I wasn’t able to play with the camera mask yet , but I will. We did have another buzzing by an Albatross, and we saw some flying fish today So on we trudge on through this doldrums of air…with 2800 miles to go.
6-12-09 2:28 pm HST Location: 29 Deg 27.246 North 122 Deg 40.365 West Heading 220 Deg SW Quiet day today, wind died off so we motor sailed for most of the day. We just set sail again so we’ll see how it goes….gotta try and save fuel. Did get to see a great "bow swim visit" by a small pod of Common Dolphin, I got some great footage of them from above on the bow…water is crystal blue out here. We picked up our first pieces of debris today, 1 Russian water bottle, a plastic US Garlic salt jar and a float set from most likely a crab trap of sorts. Lots of growth on the floats and line. Not much growth on the bottle and jar. We can't take too much time with the stuff we see on the way out, or we would never make it to our destination of the Dateline. Crew is getting along great so far...everyone is really cool and comes at this from different directions and goals. So there is a unique diversity, not just by age. If Jeff isn't running around setting sails or fixing the computer , he is creating some new concoction on the stove. Nicole is getting the blog stuff worked out, I hope to get some pics of the dolphin to go along with the debris for you all to see. Charlie just woke up…he is the funniest at that time! He sitting in the capt’s chair and singing! Still no nibbles on the fishing gear we have out. All the fish guru’s on board (and there are a bunch) think this is good fish water temp….Hope so…we might be going too fast…10 knts. So that’s it for today!!!
Day 2 6-11-09 8:18AM HST 31.49 N 119.20 W Bearing 195 Deg. 133 miles covered ave speed 8 kts What a lousy night, I was sick as a dog and just about useless to Jeff. Jamie, it was not a fun night, despite the card. Although hurling off the boat at 4 in the morning with a pod of dolphin popping up in front of me as if to say “Howzit sick boy?” I don’t know what kind they were, for it was rather dark and I was kinda busy with food redistribution. Jeff Ernst and I have the 2-6 watch, Every hour is the following…log lat and long, speed and all the rest of the crap we need to log. Check engine room…apparently on a past voyage, the engine developed a fuel leak and covered the engine room with up to a fine mist of diesel fuel…..that’s not good. So we must prevent that this time by physical checking the engine room each time we log.
Jeff is a very capable kid, sort of jack of all trades with many skills and a good sense of humor, and I am most grateful that he is the first to squawk back at Charlie. That gives me a buffer zone. Charlie and Christiana take the first watch 6-10, followed by Joel and Nicole, then Jeff and I. Joel arrived late on Tuesday after going through hell in customs in Miami. I haven’t learned too much about Nicole, but that her PADI certification appears to be a joke, based on our conversation yesterday. I promised her I would take care of her in the water. Charlie is older and showing the signs of 7 more years as a weathered seamen. I awoke this morning to Christiana say..”spout dead ahead”, so naturally I jumped up, grabbed the camera and got some poor shots of some spouting fin whales that past pretty close to the boat…but cool none the less…we are on the ocean now. I am feeling much better today and so I think tonight will be better. Need to take a sponge bath before I go on watch though. Christiana is an easy crier, she was reading a note from her mom and she teared up. She thought the dated notes from Jamie were really cute. I do think that is a great idea and it makes me bummed that I didn’t do more for Jamie…I am a dumb ass. SO the cycle begins of watch sleep, joke, eat, sleep, watch etc etc ect. I am glad I am feeling better. Gonna try yerba mate….supposed to be rocket fuel!!!
I contemplate everything during the the final 24 hours before we cast off. "Do I have everything, am I forgetting anything?" then the realization that I have forgotten the most important thing there is to me. Without her I could not and would not be where I am today. She has taken on everything I leave behind without the chance to decide if she wants to or not. That's not really fair for anyone.
I am going out to sea to do my little part in trying to save the world, but the effort put forth by the ones left behind is always lost in the mix and chaos. I hope she will be there when I get back.
Well ladds and lasses, aye there, she be a fittin home for thee! I speak of ORV Alguita...all 50 proud foot of her.
Tonight I spend my first night aboard. After arriving late Sunday, where I was reunited with Capt Charlie and Sam for the first time in 7 yrs, I went through all the stuff that was shipped here.Trying to see if I fgot what I needed, and if everything works. Having some issues with the back plate monitor on the Bluefin housing...I will check in the morning. This is going to be a long trip...its just starting to hit me. Sam and Jamie can relate to being the wives left on shore for way too long. I also officially met 1st Mate Jeff Ernst...he's a cool kid...and I can say that being a pirate over 40. A real jack of all trades so far. Also met Christiana and Nicole today, while running around gathering up supplies. Had to fabricate something to make the NiteRider lights fit the the Light and Motion housing. Thanks DJ, who helped me figure that one out. Found out that Joel is delayed at customs in Miami after going to Columbia...I sure hope he makes it here on time...he should be coming in tomorrow night. Have a few more supplies to get tomorrow and last minute stuff before our cast off Bon Voyage party tomorrow night at 6 pm pst.
Algalita Marine Research Foundation Office 148 Marina Drive Long Beach, CA 90803
So all you SoCal based facebook friends...c'mon out to the launch!! Dont be late, we are scheduled to leave at 7 pm. Please RSVP by emailing vesselsupport@algalita.org or call 424-212-9679
DIRECTIONS TO THE AMRF OFFICE
Directions from southbound 405:
Exit Studebaker Right onto Studebaker Right onto 2nd St. Left onto Marina Drive After 2nd stop sign continue straight into Alamitos Bay Landing parking lot We are located between Khoury's and Buster's Beachouse restaurants
Direction from northbound 405:
Exit Seal Beach Blvd. Left onto Seal Beach Blvd. Right onto Westminster Blvd. (turns into 2nd St.) Left onto Marina Drive Continue past second stop sign straight into Alamitos Bay Landing paking lot We are located between Khoury's and Buster's Beachouse restaurant.
Aloha Friends, Family and fellow divers, In a little less than a week, I will be embarking on what could potentially be the most adventurous voyage of my lifetime. For those that are not fully upon to date, I am about to join 5 other crew members aboard a 50 ft research sailing catamaran for a 2+ month, 8,000 mile voyage into the vast blue Pacific ocean on a quest to sample and document the Pacific garbage patch. I have done all my fundraising pitches and requests for support so I am leaving that aside. I just want to make sure that before I depart, everyone understands why I am doing this and has all the necessary information to follow the voyage and read about our findings, discoveries and adventures as we take part in this monumental journey. Our oceans are being choked by the tons and tons of plastic debris that has resulted from our disposable based world of consumer greed. The ever increasing desire to make everything disposable and cheap, to promote the purchase of more, has resulted in a problem that has grown to epidemic proportions. Having seen it before in 2002, and after 7 more years of unchecked growth, it is my belief that we are dealing with over 100 million tons of plastic debris swirling around in our oceans and if we don’t begin the necessary changes in our behavior then we will be in serious trouble. As I gather the final pieces of equipment I need to accomplish my video goals on this voyage, and make last minute preparations, I spend moments each day reflecting on just exactly it is that I am about to embark on. Our crew will join that of a handful of people who have ever sailed to this region of the Pacific and I will be one of the only people to ever scuba dive in this part of the ocean. Over 1000 miles from the nearest land and over 14,000 ft of water beneath me, I will be diving day and night in an attempt to video document the effects of the plastic debris on the strange and unusual creatures of the sea that rise from the depths to feed on the surface plankton. These life forms are the base of our marine ecosystem and the base of our ocean food chain. I will admit, despite having over 3000 dives with a camera, I get butterflies in my gut at the thought of what I may encounter. I always see the unexpected, even in places where you think you know what you will see, so you can imagine the excitement as I prepare to dive where no one has been before! There will be several ways to follow my journey if you desire. The first will be my personal blog that will be frequently updated with my personal experiences, and that is found within my trashvoyage.com website. http://www.trashvoyage.com/blogger.php There is a great educational website blog set up for school groups and student who can track the voyage and ask the crew questions during this trip. http://orvalguita.googlepages.com/ There is also the boat blog within that site, where the crew will add updates about the voyage. http://orvalguita.blogspot.com/ Whether you live near the ocean or not, regardless of how and where you make your living, there is no way you can say this issue of plastics doesn’t affect you. This problem affects everyone and will continue to do so for generations to come if we don’t do something to change our behavior now. There are many groups, individuals and businesses that have helped make this voyage a reality for me…Joe Green at Surf n Sea in Haleiwa, Mr. & Mrs. Fred Stalder, Chef Duff of Charm City Cakes ,Wheeler Portrait Sculpture & Richard Cunningham…just to name a few, but there are a number of people that I must acknowledge and thank for their effort and assistance in helping to get this message out and make a difference. First and foremost… Captain Charles Moore and Algalita Marine Research Foundation…www.algalita.org If not for him, we may not even know of this problem today and he let me crew for him in the 2002 gyre voyage. Also…(in no particular order) Shaka Doug Corbin – Shaka Divers in Maui – http://www.shakadivers.com/ he has been a great voice on Scubaboard. http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/hawaii-ohana/268139-pacific-trash-vortex-wow-i-had-no-idea-bad.html Richard and Heidi Taylor – Tangaroa Blue – They have created a group to analyze and consolidate worldwide beach cleanup data to better understand just where all this plastic is going and what is in it. http://www.oceancare.org.au/index.php Kelly & Neil Tsutsui –Plastic Free Haleiwa - Working to rid disposable plastic from all businesses in Haleiwa Hawaii on Oahu’s north shore. http://www.kokuahawaiifoundation.org/community/plasticfreehaleiwa/ (Jack Johnson –founder) Justine Gronwald – http://justbagithawaii.com/ She is heading up a campaign to get everyone to use reusable bags instead of disposable. Mark Fraser – Nature walks with Mark – http://naturewalkswithmark.org/ He has created a Garbage Patch Cleaners website, and been a strong voice on the issue. http://www.garbagepatchcleaner.org/home Joel Paschal & Marcus Erikson – The Junk raft - http://junkraft.blogspot.com/ These guys did wonders for the cause by sailing a raft made of 20,000 plastic bottles across the pacific. …and finally, my wife Jamie Wheeler. Without her unconditional love and support, I could not do any of this. This is not easy for her to stand by and watch me sail off into the blue…especially to look for trash…but she understands the importance of it all. I know there are more of you who have been helping to spread the word within your social networks, and I do thank you. If you feel that I left you out, I am sorry…I just have so much on my mind and this issue isn’t about self recognition…I just felt necessary to mention some of the key people. Please take the time to learn more of this issue and spread the word and thank you for reading this and I hope you will follow us on our Journey to the Center of the Trash! Mahalo & Aloha, Drew Wheeler ScubaDrew VideoWorks – www.scubadrewvideo.com – www.trashvoyage.com
We passed through the channel between the Garden Isle, Kauai and Niihau, known as the "Forbidden Isle". The Hawaiian island chain always amazes me how each island is so different yet the one thing that remains consent is the spirit of Aloha!
